Show Table - (PostgreSQL Table)

In PostgreSQL, SHOW TABLE is a command that displays the structure of a table, including its columns, data types, and constraints. In this tutorial, we'll discuss how to use the SHOW TABLE command in PostgreSQL, including its syntax, examples, output, explanation, use cases, important points, and summary.

Syntax

The syntax for the SHOW TABLE command is as follows:

SHOW TABLE table_name;

Where table_name is the name of the table that you want to display the structure for.

Example

Suppose we have a table employees containing employee-related data. To display the structure of the table, we use the following command:

SHOW TABLE employees;

The output of this command would be:

               Table "public.employees"
  Column   |  Type   | Collation | Nullable | Default 
-----------+---------+-----------+----------+---------
 id        | integer |           | not null | 
 name      | text    |           |          | 
 age       | integer |           |          | 
 position  | text    |           |          | 
 salary    | real    |           |          | 
 hire_date | date    |           |          | 
Indexes:
    "employees_pkey" PRIMARY KEY, btree (id)

Explanation

In this example, we used the SHOW TABLE command to display the structure of the employees table. The output shows the columns in the table, their data types, whether they can be null or not, and any defaults for the columns. It also shows any indexes defined on the table.

Use

The main use of the SHOW TABLE command is to display the structure of a table in PostgreSQL. This can be useful when debugging or maintaining a database.

Important Points

• The SHOW TABLE command is specific to PostgreSQL and may not work in other SQL databases.
• The command only displays the structure of the table and does not show any of the data contained within the table.
• If you do not specify a schema name, PostgreSQL assumes that the table is in the public schema.

Summary

In this tutorial, we discussed how to use the SHOW TABLE command in PostgreSQL to display the structure of a table, including its columns, data types, and constraints. We covered the syntax, examples, output, explanations, use cases, and important points of using SHOW TABLE in PostgreSQL. With this knowledge, you can now use the SHOW TABLE command to view the structure of tables in your PostgreSQL databases.